The Jonah Whale in the Fairy Tale Dimension

This article features the roles of whales in this dimension and the species of the Jonah Whale in the Fairy Tale Dimension. When I was a kid I had a book with bible stories that I liked a lot. One of the stories that fascinated me most was the story of Jonah and the whale.

The bible story of Jonah and the Whale

God sends Jonah to the city of Niniveh to get them to change their sinful ways. Since Jonah is not stupid and knows that the life of a messenger with bad tidings is in mortal danger he refuses and flees. He goes to Jaffa where he catches a boat that sails to Tarshish.

Because God is not amused with his behaviour he sends a heavy storm that threatens to capsize the ship. The sailors get anxious and ask themselves why this is happening. Jonah admits that he is probably to blame because he did not abide God´s wishes. He offers them to go overboard to save the ship because he knows the storm will cease then. At first the sailors refuse but when the storm gets worse they are forced to throw Jonah overboard to save their lives. As soon as Jonah is off the ship the storm calms down.

Jonah does not drown however. A big fish appears and swallows him. He spends 3 days and three nights in its belly. There he repents and promises God to do as he bade him and go to Niniveh as soon as he is saved. Miraculously the fish spits him out near his destination.

He musters all his courage goes into the city and tells the king and the city´s inhabitants that they are doomed should they not repent and change their ways in the next 40 days. Astonishingly the people believe him and let him live. Everybody puts on sackcloth, fasts and repents. God sees this change in their ways and spares the city from destruction – this time.

What a story! Jonah experiences a lot of action as a very reluctant messenger.

Jonah is forced to do a job nobody in his right mind would volunteer for. He runs away – but who can run away from God? God finds an original way to persuade Jonah to do the job in spite of himself. He obviously thinks he is the right person for this.

Scientists today mostly believe that the story is fictional but interestingly it exists not only in Christianity, but also in Judaism and Islam. This Wikipedia article gives a good overview.

The bible calls the sea-creature a big fish but sometimes it is also called a whale. What they both have in common is that they are huge. The biggest mammal on earth is the blue whale with a length of up to 30 m.

Jonah´s story is not the only one where people are swallowed by a big fish. I remember that in the Italian Fairy Tale Pinocchio , the wooden puppet, meets his father Geppetto in the stomach of a fish where he has been living for some time.

There probably are more stories where people get swallowed by a whale that I am not aware of. Do you know any other stories? Please share!

 Whales are often seen as spirit animals

Some people believe that inside the whale there lives a beautiful woman, the soul of the whale, who is the keeper of old knowledge. The following characteristics are attributed to whales:

• Keepers of history and wisdom
• Show the importance of family and community
• Emotional rebirth
• Peacefulness
• Strength
• Communication

Throughout human history there have been many myths and stories about whales:

• The whale is said to have a connection between this world and Atlantis, which is another dimension
• Arctic people believe the whale to have a cunning side
• In Slavic cultures the whale was seen as the pillar of the universe
• In ancient China the oceans was believed to be ruled by Yu-kiang, a giant fish that was a thousand meters long and had human hands and feet
• In East Africa there exists a fairy tale of a king named Sulemani who tries to feed the world and sees that he cannot manage this alone when faced with the appetite of many hungry whales
• In Vietnam whales are regarded as sacred beings that bring luck, safety and prosperity
• Inuit have a history of talking to whales
• Today the whale is often used as a symbol for globalisation and the unity of the world

A whale in the night sky

The star constellation featuring a whale is called Cetus. It is one of the four biggest constellations and includes the star Tau Ceti and a big galaxy called M77. The word Cetus comes from the Greek word ketos and means large fish, shark or sea monster. The English word Cetaceans for whales is derived from it.

My own experience with whales

2012 I stayed for a week in Westiceland where a pod of Orcas came feeding close to the shore at night. We sat for hours at the beach in the midnight sun mesmerised watching these fascinating creatures. A little one swam right up to the shore and looked in my eyes. I will never forget this!

Back home I read up on whales and found that some Bowhead whales, filter feeders like the blue whales, can get up to 200 years old making them some of the oldest beings on earth. Some people say that these creatures could be the living archives of their families. Recording deaths, births and where the best feeding grounds are, ensuring the continuity of culture.

I am quite fascinated by these animals and I am not alone. They have a big draw. Whale watching is very popular but sadly some countries still insist on killing these fascinating creatures.

Behind the scenes info on the Jonah Whale in the Fairy Tale Dimension

I did some research in the Fairy Tale Dimension as the ring bearer and found that there are creatures similar to whales that transport people and cargo.

I call this species the Jonah Whale because I like to picture Jonah travelling in one of them. I don´t know whether to call them fish, whales or water dragons.

Jonah Whales come in all shapes and sizes and can get up to 100 meters long. When you translate this into a submarine these beings are able to transport quite a number of passengers.

The Jonah Whales are sentient intelligent beings like us. They enter the Fairy Tale Dimension like everybody else with the help of the GrImporter.

They have hollow parts in their bodies like caves where passengers can stay while being ferried from one part of the Fairy Tale Dimension to another over oceans, lakes or big rivers.

Being part of the Fairy Tale Dimension with its very special sense of humour you can bet there can be any number of surprises when you choose this means of transportation!

You enter through the huge mouth and it is quite scary to walk along the rows of large teeth and on the huge tongue.

Being spit out is one of the nice ways of disembarking. Sometimes the whales choose to treat their passengers as bodily waste – I leave you to picture that – or shoot them out of their blowhole. Since you are quite indestructible in the Fairy Tale Dimension – it does not matter when you get hurt and disembarking is just another way of being playful.

Playing with Jonah Whales

There seem to be endless opportunities at being playful with these creatures. They have a multitude of  contests.

1.  They love to race each other or compare who can carry more passengers or cargo.
2. I have this picture in my mind of many people squeezing into them. You can see the outward shape of the Jonah Whales bulging because of this. Imagine the creature sneezing then: People are spewed outwards in all directions!
3. They also like to compete at who can jump highest or dive lowest retrieving objects from the deep-sea.
4. Have you ever wanted to be a live cannonball? You can volunteer taking part in a contest where whales see who can propel his passengers furthest.
5. There also is a game where people are bounced from one creature to the next. You lose when you fall into the water. The one who stays out of it the longest wins.

What fascinates you about whales and what would you like to play with the Jonah Whale? Please share in the comments!

Pictures: Pixabay and private

Links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah
• https://www.whalefacts.org/whales-in-mythology/

 

© Inge Schumacher